Video – Drone flyaround of Trench J
A short video of Trench J from Jim Rylatt, showing Structure Five and the northern boundary wall.… Read more
Category: Structures
Diary Extra – 3d model shows where three structures meet
Another new model from Paul Durdin, showing the small, but complex, area, beside Structure Twelve’s western, central pier.
Where buildings like Twelve have been built over the top of earlier… Read more
Video: Structure Twelve – ‘The hammer(stone) house of horrors’
Site director Nick Card's 2023 pre-dig lecture in Kirkwall, recorded by Orkney Archaeology Society in June as part of their OAS Legacy Project. Read more
Diary Extra – In and around Structure Twenty-Seven
Before excavation resumes in Structure Twenty-Seven tomorrow, Sigurd took the chance to get some pictures of this stunning – but enigmatic – building.
Click on any of the images for… Read more
Diary Extra – Around Trench P
A selection of photographs from Friday, recording elements of some of Trench P’s structures.
For more information on any of the buildings featured, see the Structures section.… Read more
Investigate Trench T and Structure Twenty-Seven
Not long to go now! Work to uncover the site begins on Monday, but here’s an aerial view of Trench T and Structure Twenty-Seven from 2022.
Zoom in, pan, explore… Read more
Structure Thirty
The large curving wall face belonging to Structure Thirty protrudes from the edge of Trench P to the south-east of Structure Twelve.
There is not much that can be said… Read more
Zoom in and explore Trench J
Zoom in and pan around high-resolution images of Trench J from 2021 and 2022. Read more
Get up close to the archaeology in Trench P

An overhead view of Trench P at the end of the 2019 season – the last time it was completely uncovered.
Zoom in for a close-up view of the… Read more
Where the eastern annexe fits into the story of Structure Twelve
2018: A view over Structure Twelve’s shoddy northern annexe. (📷 Scott Pike)
Cast your mind back to 2019 and you’ll remember there was great excitement in Structure Twelve’s eastern end… Read more
Stone roofing at the Ness of Brodgar
A new section outlining the the evidence for stone “tiled” roofs at the Ness and what these might have looked like.
Click here to read.… Read more
Structure Thirty-Two additions bring Trench J up-to-date
With an entry running to a mere four paragraphs, Structure Thirty-Two hadn’t received much love on the website!
But that’s been fully remedied now with an updated summary of what… Read more
Do post-holes represent a timber building beneath Structure Five?
We mentioned it briefly during last summer’s dig diary, but we’ve got another update to Structure Five’s page today, covering the possibility that there may be an earlier, timber building… Read more
The central paved area and standing stone
An update to our excavation background section this week, dealing with the “central paved area” and standing stone between Structures One, Eight, Twelve and Twenty-Nine.
Click here to read.… Read more
Structure Twenty-Seven – updated and expanded
This summer we returned to Trench T for the first time since 2019.
There, the focus was on Structure Twenty-Seven, a large building that had been badly robbed of stone… Read more
Structure Five – updated and rewritten
Our understanding of Structure Five, the oldest building excavated on site to date, has come on in leaps and bounds.
So we’ve completely updated its entry to reflect this.… Read more
Structures Seventeen and Eighteen updated
Structures Seventeen and Eighteen are two earlier buildings that pre-date, and lie beneath, Structure Eight. During the 2022 excavation season, one of the focuses was to reveal more of the… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – 3d model of Structure One’s central orthostat
Another 3d model from Paul Durdin, this time the central orthostat in Structure One.
This stone was inserted into the building’s northern hearth and was one of three tied into… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – New 3d models of Structures Nineteen and Thirty-Two
Two new annotated models by Trench J supervisor Paul Durdin, showing the remains of Structures Nineteen and Thirty-Two.
… Read more
Dig Diary Extra – Bird’s-eye view of Structure Twenty-Seven
Video and photographs from Professor Scott Pike, showing Structure Twenty-Seven in all its glory yesterday.… Read more
Updated entry for Structure Ten
Our update to the structures section of the website concludes today, with a fully expanded and revised entry for Structure Ten – the last monumental construction at the Ness of… Read more
